Episode description

The death of the African-American man, George Floyd, in police custody - and the subsequent protests and riots - will look familiar to anyone who’s followed American history. This week also marked the 99th anniversary of an incident known as the ‘Tulsa Race Massacre’, in which a white mob killed hundreds of black people in a part of the Oklahoma city referred to as the ‘Black Wall Street’. Decades later, Congress passed civil rights legislation, and in 2008 the United States elected its first black president - superficially, big steps. But since then there has been a wave of police killings of young black men. The anger expressed on the streets of more than 140 US cities this week demonstrates not enough has changed. Ritula Shah is joined by a cross-generational panel of black activists and academics to assess the way forward. Have the tactics used to change minds and laws after previous deaths in police custody had any success? What are the structural obstacles to black progress and how can they be dismantled? Given all the anger and false dawns, what should black Americans do next?